At its last meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, the ISTQB General Assembly met to discuss the Software Testing Profession and its ongoing development. The meeting covered the new Advanced Syllabus, the Examination procedures, and the successes member nations are having in developing Certification in their local areas. Before the meeting, Dipl. Inform Timea Illes and Professor Dr. Mario Winter of the German Testing Board conducted the first "Exam Item Writer and Reviewer Workshop" in Webinar format.

The President’s report, delivered by Rex Black, emphasised how popular and wide-ranging Certification has become. Some of the smaller nations (economically and population wise)are really making huge headway, even eclipsing some of the larger nations!

More than 90,000 certifications according to the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level and Certified Tester Advanced Level standards have already been issued.

In addition, three new boards have joined the ISTQB: the Iranian Testing Board, the Estonian Testing Board, and the South African Testing Board.

Now representatives from over 40 national testing boards cooperate in the ISTQB to set up the global standard for the training and certification of software testers.

For member national boards, please see the Members’ tab.

There was an exciting discussion on the development of the Expert Level Certification and other potential certification schemes and approaches. The Foundation and Advanced Level Syllabi and Examinations were reviewed for areas of improvement and growth.

An updated calendar for important release dates for the updated Syllabi and Examination details will be released soon.

The next ISTQB General Assembly meeting will be held in India in October 2008.

Before the meeting, Dipl. Inform Timea Illes and Professor Dr. Mario Winter of the German Testing Board conducted the first "Exam Item Writer and Reviewer Workshop" in Webinar format.